I’ve added new spaces on Analog.Cafe, where I’ll be organizing some of my thoughts on film photography.
You’ll probably notice #editorial🔥 the most since it’s where I write about product launches and share announcements like this. Comments under this tag may end up in your RSS feed, Community Letters¹, or you may hear about them from me on Mastodon and Bluesky.
A #video tag lists all the comments with a YouTube link. I’ve added a whole bunch of these, including this epic trilogy of Kodak factory tours: analog.cafe/comments/tnq0.
This week, Polaroid updated their “world’s smallest instant camera.”
Polaroid Go Gen 2 focuses on improving the exposures with the aperture range of 𝒇9-42, up from the previous version’s 𝒇12-56 on its plastic lens. Its max shutter speed has also got faster: 1/300s.
Perhaps most importantly, Polaroid updated the autoexposure system on the Go:
“Our team redesigned the light sensor’s positioning and field-of-view, so whatever you’re pointing at is exactly what the camera is picking up. And if you’re pointing at a wider scene, your camera’s wider metering coverage will have it literally looking at the bigger picture.”
The cameras are made with 30% recycled materials.
You can pick one up via the affiliate link (where I may make a small commission at no cost to you) directly from Polaroid: polaroid.prf.hn/l/y8QGWpn
Fujifilm’s new Instax Mini 99 is a fully analogue instant film camera that uses LEDs for in-camera special effects.
We’ve seen instant film printers with tiny digital sensors before from Fujifilm, Leica (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…) and others. Though these cameras have their advantages like special in-camera effects, many film photographers just want a camera that shoots film.
Well, it appears that Fujifilm has just delivered the analogue process we crave *with* special in-camera effects. All that at an affordable price point ($200) in a package that looks nice.
The new Instax Mini 99 is an updated version of the Instax Mini 90 (analog.cafe/r/instax-mini-…) with novel exposure and focus controls.
The camera also features physical vignetting control (a mask in front of the lens). But the most interesting in-camera effect is the in-house LEDs that project colours onto film to simulate warm/cool tones, light leaks, and various colour casts.
There’s no digital processing of any kind in this camera!
Instax Mini 99 is expected to arrive in stores in mid-April.
Fujifilm is famously opaque when it comes to communicating its work on film production. Though a former rival of Kodak for the top spot in emulsion sales worldwide, the Japanese brand of today makes the most money in makeup, drugs, digital cameras, and other chemical products. Film is far down the “todo” list for Fujifilm, which you can also gleam from the great number of emulsions they discontinued over the years: analog.cafe/search?for=fuj…
The latest in Fujifilm’s apparent lags in film production was “Fujifilm 400” colour film for their lower tier of emulsions that replaced Fuji Superia X-Tra (analog.cafe/r/fujifilm-sup…) and has been theorized to be just rebranded Kodak Ultramax film (analog.cafe/r/kodak-ultram…).
The Good News. Though Fujifilm doesn’t open its factory doors like Kodak (analog.cafe/comments/tnq0) or Polaroid, the company did say that the film production delays should be temporary: kosmofoto.com/2021/11/fuji…
You may’ve seen some Fuji stocks reappear in your local store already, but that probably won’t compare to how things going in Japan, where Yvonne found fresh Fujicolor and, 200/400 ISO Superia Fujifilm stocks: youtube.com/watch?v=vwQ6Wj…
MiNT shared a little more today about their new premium 35mm film point-and-shoot that’s coming this year.
Looks like the Rollei 35AF will look nearly identical to the original Rollei 35 — in more ways than some of us may’ve thought.
Back in January (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…), Gary Ho confirmed what was already evident from his earlier assembly images (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…): his new premium point-and-shoot camera will be based on the Rollei 35 body.
MiNT, known for refurbishing and modifying Polaroid SX-70 cameras, uses the Rollei name on some of its instant film SLRs, but it had not designed something that resembles an iconic Rollei product so closely. But now we know: the new Rollei 35 will be a faithful modernized classic with some of the same materials as the original, including a metal body construction:
- It’ll have the same form factor and a very similar appearance to the Rollei 35 S (analog.cafe/r/rollei-35s-c…)
- Its body will be made of metal, like the original
- It’ll feature an 𝒇2.8 lens with coated glass elements
- It’ll be a full-frame 35mm film camera
- It’ll have a lidar autofocus, presumably autoexposure as well
- It’ll have aperture controls
- It’ll cost 650-800USD
No release date yet, but you can enter the waitlist here: rollei35af.com/
I developed & fixed film using nothing but edible ingredients from a grocery store. It’s been over twelve months, and it’s time to re-scan to see how the picture holds up.
Developing black and white film with coffee is a well-known trick. Many photographers tried this method and its edible variations. However, the last step usually involves industrial chemicals.
The Caffenol film development experiment I tried last year used an unproven substitute for the last step (fixer): table salt. It got results, but I wasn’t sure if the film would fade over time.
Something reminded me of this experiment today, and I decided to scan the film again to see how well it held up.
Turns out it held up well. I see no significant difference between today’s scan (attached) and the results I got in December 2022 (see the article ☝️).
The salt fixer works!
My fixer recipe used 300g of iodized salt with 1L water (or as much as could dissolve). After some agitation, the film was soaked in salt overnight.
I can confirm this works, but could this recipe be altered to be more practical? Would an hour or even less time in salt still work?
Update: In An Instant has a video overview of this camera, which is particularly informative about the format itself. You can watch it here: youtube.com/watch?v=pGEU5N…
I am also attaching one of the sample images Lomography sent me with their press package. A significant downside of this type of camera is the challenge of scanning such a small film. It’s smaller than a half-frame format and, as a result, makes less detailed images.
However, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing; simply something to consider when picking up one of these cameras for your project.
I’ve added the new Editorial Comments section to Analog.Cafe, where I plan to publish timely announcements (like the one above) and opinion pieces.
Editorial comments will be short, with a maximum of one image per post (some will also have video). There won’t be any fancy formatting or beautiful display like on the main article posts.
Editorials will be distributed alongside the articles on the RSS feed and a few other places like Flipboard (flipboard.com/@analog_cafe). You may now see something new from me daily (sometimes less, sometimes more — I promise not to spam).
One more thing: you can now add #tags to comments on Analog.Cafe. I’ll feature the best ones at the top of analog.cafe/comments
Lomography just released a new “advanced” mini 110 film camera: the Lomomatic 110. It features a multi-coated glass lens, built-in flash, and automatic exposure (with aperture and ISO control).
Lomography is one of the few major film retailers that actively makes and promotes the 110 film format. Though it can be tricky to develop at home or at a lab, the 110 format is extremely compact, lending to tiny camera designs.
Unfortunately, the small film size also makes home scanning challenging. Thus, you may be limited by your lab’s scanner — in addition to all the challenges of enlarging such a small format, including grain. This, however, never bothered Lomography or many of the format’s fans. After all, photography isn’t all about sharp lenses and fine grain.
New What The Film?! “🎁 Bonus” game level is up! Colour film levels coming soon.
What The Film?! is a game for film photographers. You progress by correctly guessing film names for the community-submitted samples. Extra points for guessing correctly in a shorter time span.
Hundreds of people played this game. It was featured on PetaPixel and 35mmc.
The new level will let you level up on the scoreboard of the top 100 players. And if you’re one of the people who submitted new images, you have the advantage!
P.S.: The team (Yvonne, Darren) and I are beginning our work on the colour film version of the game. I’ll let you know once the submissions open; we’ll focus on colour negative (C-41) film.
Today, Ricoh Imaging (a brand that owns Pentax) has announced that its brand-new half-frame film camera will have its lens design based on the Pentax Espio Mini cameras: youtube.com/watch?v=xqRQTO…
This new camera (more about it here: analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…) will look and work differently from Espio Mini as it’ll have a manual film crank and no autofocus (instead, relying on the zone focusing system, which I explain here: analog.cafe/r/how-to-zone-…).
CONFIRMED: Film Ferrania releases P33: an ISO 160 black and white film.
“With a sensitivity of 160 ASA, the P33 ensures a simpler and more versatile photographic experience compared to the past. Designed to overcome the processing and printing challenges faced by enthusiasts of the P30, the P33 offers distinctive features such as fine grain and defined contrast. This film not only meets the needs of professionals but also makes analog photography accessible to less experienced enthusiasts. Remaining true to the tradition of Film Ferrania, the P33 combines innovation and tradition, demonstrating the company’s ongoing evolution in the industry.”
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